Not His Cup of Tea
by Ptolomeia
Summary: Really, Adrien thought to himself as his father tried to alternately kidnap him, and kill his alter-ego and the young woman Adrien loved, this had all started with a cup of tea. A story that involves the love square, starting with the cup of tea and following it's unforeseen repercussions.
1. Chapter 1

A/N:

My first real and proper and intentional multi chapter fic in this fandom. WOW.

I hope you enjoy!

* * *

Adrien's head slumped on his desk at school, too tired to even bring his arms up to use as pillows. The table was comfortable enough. Five akumas in five days, on top of the busy schedule his father forced him to maintain, hadn't left much time for sleep. And when he did get a chance to rest, he found himself worrying about the next attack, or keeping up his grades, or Ladybug or something! Exactly like be was doing now, he was annoyed to realize. He had just managed to clear his mind when someone said his name. Suppressing a growl, he turned his head and opened one, murderous eye.

"Marinette?" he asked, sitting up. The girl actually willingly speaking to him was strange enough to draw him away from sleep's siren call.

"Hi.. I uh, tea made-you tired, sleep-sleepy tea-" she stuttered, forced smile spread across her face. He didn't know what about him made this girl who could go on a date with a villain without fear afraid, but he tried to hide his confusion and smile encouragingly.

She abruptly put a jar on the table and slid into her seat behind him, burying her face in her hands. His eyebrows shot up and he turned to ask her what was going on, but Alya had placed a comforting hand on her friend's shoulder and gave him a tiny shake of the head. Curiosity growing, he turned back to investigate the jar. Sleep could wait. He was curious. Hopefully, it wouldn't kill this particular cat.

He untied the note that was attached to the jar.

Relaxing Bedtime Tea was the handwritten title. Underneath were instructions on how to brew it. At the bottom was a note:

"I noticed you were looking tired. Hope this helps and you feel better soon." This was followed by something scribbled out, and then, painstakingly written below that, she'd written her name. He looked at the handwritten note, and then looked at the jar that looked like she'd decorated it herself, with the loose tea inside it. Had Marinette blended this tea for him herself? Before he could turn around and ask the blushing girl, or even open the jar to give it a sniff, the teacher walked in, and called everyone to attention. He managed to slip her a thank you note when the teacher wasn't looking.

* * *

Adrien collapsed in bed. It was only 8 o'clock, but he'd finished his homework and he was exhausted. He didn't even have the energy to change into his pajamas before he felt his eyes drifting closed.

" _Chat…" Ladybug says weakly. Her suit is the wrong shade of red and there's a damn pole sticking out of her abdomen. "Chaton, help me." And then she's coughing and there's even more red and he can't do anything, he can't move, he can't—_

Adrien sat up in bed, screaming.

"Bad dream, huh?" Plagg asked, floating over and munching cheese. Adrien didn't have the energy to do anything more than glare at the kwami. He glanced at the clock. It wasn't even nine. He fell back into the pillow and groaned. Looked like it was going to be another sleepless night. He wasn't sure how much more he could take before he actually collapsed from exhaustion, but it felt like it might be soon. He stubbornly refused to close his eyes. He didn't want to see that again. Those dreams were more tiring than actually being awake.

"What about the tea your classmate gave you?" Plagg asked, floating above his head.

The tea! Adrien had been too tired to even think about it before, but maybe…

He rolled out of bed and went to rummage in his bag. The jar was in the bottom, and he pulled it out to finally open it and sniff it. It had laid there forgotten after a pop quiz in the second period. He was fairly certain one of his answers had been Waterloo. It had been a math quiz…

He took a deep sniff of the mix inside. It smelled _good._ Lavender and chamomile and something else that just made him want to roll around in it. Adrien blinked. Was that a normal reaction to tea?

Suddenly Plagg was hanging onto the edge of the jar.

"You need to drink this," he said, in a dead level voice. Adrien nearly dropped the jar in shock. He didn't think he'd ever seen Plagg this serious before. Not even when he'd first shown up with the ring.

"This doesn't have to do with cheese, does it?" he asked, trying to lighten the mood. Serious Plagg wasn't normal and made him feel kinda weird.

"Drink the tea, Adrien." Plagg was using his name. Adrien called for some boiling water.

Finally, the tea was ready. Plagg was getting more and more agitated as it steeped and Adrien was getting genuinely concerned for the little Kwami. Yes, he ate more cheese in a day than any normal human might in a week, but he was still the only friend (if you could call him that) that Adrien had on both sides of the mask. The poor thing was writhing and making pitiful sounds.

"Plagg?" Adrien tried to get his attention, now that the tea was ready.

Plagg looked up at him with pupils that were much too large. "Transform, then drink the tea."

"Will that help?" Adrien asked, feeling a little lost. Plagg nodded and Adrien transformed and downed the entire cup as quickly as he could. He could feel Plagg in the back of his head and realized the little git hadn't been in pain, he'd been happy. Really happy.

Adrien looked at the empty mug as various feeling started to settle in. Part of himself he could feel relaxing, but the Chat part… It wanted to… He was out of his window and running across the rooftops of Paris before he had any real idea what was going on. All he could think about was the need to run, move, _pounce._ He was entirely Chat. Adrien, for the time being, was gone.

* * *

He perched on the railing, watching his prey. His tail twitched back and forth as he held himself still. It wouldn't be fun unless she spooked.

The dark-haired girl glanced up and then frowned. She squinted up through the trapdoor he was using as his window.

"Chat?" she asked, starting to sit up. A name, a movement, that was all the invitation he needed. Prey finally spooked, Chat Noir pounced.

* * *

A/N:

Any guesses what that third, somnolent at least for humans, tea ingredient is?

Thanks for reading!


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Here's chapter two, in which the mystery herb is revealed and the author has fun making Adrien feel bad, Enjoy!

* * *

Adrien drifted back into consciousness slowly. He lay there for a moment, frowning. Last night had brought some very, _very_ strange dreams. He tried to stretch the strange stiffness out of his system, only to find he couldn't move.

Suddenly, he was very much awake. His eyes snapped open, and he looked around. He didn't recognize the room he was in, but he could feel his mask still on his face. He was still transformed—Wait, why was he transformed? There was a movement in the corner of his eyes and he turned his head to see if that would help him figure out what was going on.

"Good morning, Chat." Ladybug said, eyebrows raised and giving him a very unimpressed look. He noticed the yoyo and string in opposite hands, and realized exactly what had been used to tie him up.

"Good Morning, my Lady. You know, if you wanted me tied up in your bedroom, you need only have asked," he winked at her. The flirtations were familiar, centering, helping him not freak out over how he had no memory of how he had managed to get here. His Lady's eye roll was just as comforting. Somehow, he suspected she would have face palmed if she hadn't still been keeping him tied with the yoyo.

"What makes you think this is my bedroom?" Ladybug asked. Adrien felt his stomach sink.

"It isn't...?" He managed weakly.

"Nope." She replied, still giving him a dangerous look. Not quite basilisk levels of dangerous, but getting close. He wracked his memories of last night for what could have caused it, but there were none.

"Who's room is this then?" He finally asked, feeling more like Adrien than he ever had as Chat before. Ladybug frowned at him, this time less angry and more concerned.

"Do you have any idea what you did last night?" She asked, and if Chat's stomach had sunk before, this time there were weights attached. She sighed and let go of the yoyo, before giving the string a tug. He found himself being rolled over and over as the string retracted. He barely managed to keep from thwacking his head, and afterwards just lay on the floor, starting up and waiting for the ceiling to stop spinning. A helping hand entered his line of vision.

"Come on, Chaton, up you get," his Lady said, pulling him to his feet. It was then that he got a proper look at the room. It was a mess. A _horrifying_ mess. Not the normal teenaged, 'don't have time/don't care' of things piling up in places they shouldn't, but an 'an actual tornado just swept through here' kinda mess. There was a broken potted plant on the floor, bits of it scattered across the room. Pieces of fabric, spools of thread, loops of embroidery floss and balls of yarn were everywhere, in various states of destruction. He saw that a pillow had been ripped open, feathers scattered everywhere, looking almost like a light layer of snow, softening the rest of the horrifying chaos he'd created. He was both horrified and impressed with himself. Even using cataclysm, he didn't think he'd ever made this horrible a mess, and he'd destroyed historic monuments before.

"So," he turning to his Lady, scratching the back of his neck. "Who do I owe an apology"

"You remember that girl from the Evilustrator incident, Marinette? This is her room." He looked around in horror. Marinette, the kind, brave, beautiful, strangely shy, talented girl who sat behind him every day and had always tried to be nice to him, and _he had done this to her room_.

"Where is she? I need to apologize," He said, looking around, though even if she was small, he wasn't sure how he could have failed to notice her in his first examination of the room.

"She's hiding downstairs." He immediately started heading towards the trapdoor in the floor he'd noticed, but before he'd gone more than a step or two—"And you're going to leave her alone. Actually, what would be best is if you left and maybe let her get some sleep before she has to go to school. I know she's been up all night over this and after what you did, she really needs to get some rest." Chat Noir flinched at Ladybug's tone and the images her words conjured up.

"What, exactly, did I do?" he asked, tone carefully controlled. He hadn't spotted any blood but-

"You didn't hurt her!" Ladybug cut in, eyes wide as she clearly figured out what he was thinking. Then she paused, frowning slightly, which did nothing for the twisting sensation in his gut. "Well, not physically at least. You did freak her out, but I'm pretty sure she'll be fine. Marinette is very strong." He nodded, remembering so many different things. "This is what she told me when I showed up—"

"Wait," Adrien interrupted, realizing something. "How did you know about this? Did I do damage outside?" Oh God, just how much of Paris lay in ruins?

"No!" She reassured him. "Marinette, um..." She trailed off, her eyes wide, before she sighed and looked at her feet. "I gave her my number during the Evilustrator incident, in case you needed back up and were too busy fighting to call me."

"But, I thought you had that secret mission," Which he _still_ didn't know about, dammit. "Did you... did you not trust me?"

"Of course I trusted you, Chat! But, I thought she'd feel better knowing I was there if she needed me." Chat's eyebrow went up.

"So she didn't trust me." That hurt a lot more than it should have. Ladybug raised an eyebrow right back and let her gaze wander pointedly around the room.

"Fair point," he admitted, blushing slightly. Not that he had any idea what he had done to create this. "So, what did I do?" Even if he hadn't hurt her, he still needed to know, needed to apologize.

"Alright, well, here's what Marinette told me. You showed up on her balcony at some point last night, and tackled her in her bed. She managed to push you off the edge and you promptly attacking her yarn. She called to you, but you didn't respond, and when she went down to check on you... well, to sum up, you switched between being aggressively affectionate with her and treating everything in her room as a very destructible cat toy. Fortunately, you seemed to ignore her computer and just focus on her crafting stuff-She thinks she'll be able to salvaged most of it with time. You pounced, tore, licked, ate about half of one of her plants-"

"Licked!?" Adrien asked, feeling kind of horrified.

"Oh yeah, she was really clear on that. Apparently you really liked her hair, and thought it needed grooming. She was grumbling about taking a shower or four when I came up to deal with you, Chaton. Every time she'd move you'd pounce and rub and lick until you got bored with her lack of reaction and went to entertain yourself elsewhere. Then she'd get a little closer to the door and repeat. Eventually, she managed to get downstairs and she called me and I came to stop you from doing any further damage until you woke up. Really, Chat, what happened?"

" _I don't know,_ " Chat replied, real anguish in his voice. If he couldn't figure out what triggered this, then who knew when it would happen again. He didn't like losing control like this. "Last night I was having trouble sleeping, so I tried this new tea—" wait, she knew Marinette "—That someone said would be helpful for sleep, and the last thing I remember is my Kwami telling me to transform before drinking my tea, because Chat's faster metabolism would put me to sleep faster."

"Wait." Ladybug interupted him. "You drank a tea to help you sleep? What was in it?"

"Um..." He thought back, "There was chamomile, lavender and... something else... something that smelled _really_ good."

"Chat..." Ladybug was looking at him incredulously. "Did you _really_ drink a catnip tea? _Really?!"_

"No! Anyway, isn't catnip a stimulant?" He replied, refusing to believe he might have been that stupid.

"Only for cats!" She replied, glaring before calming down. "It's a great somnolent for humans. Those three herbs working together, with a few others for taste, should have knocked you out fairly quickly. Though, that does explain the plant you ate," she pointed toward the corner of the room, where a very half eaten plant lay. "Uh, I'd stay away from it if I were you." Chat nodded, definitely not wanting to experience anything like this night again. But had he seriously drunk Cat nip tea? _Cat nip tea?!_ And Plagg must have known what would happen... As soon as they got home, no where would be safe. They were going to have a talk and he would have his revenge. "Look, Chat, you should get going. The sun's starting to come up and Marinette has school tomorrow."

"Are you sure I can't see her?" He asked. Even with Ladybug's reassurance, he wouldn't feel like she was actually ok until he saw her. He knew he'd see her in school, but that seemed so far away, and Ladybug didn't know that. She paused, thinking it over.

"You can't see her now, but you can come back this evening, after she's had a chance to recover and rest."

"Will you be there?" He asked, wondering if Marinette would feel better having someone else there too. After all, he had just attacked her.

"No, this is between the two of you and you two need to sort it out." She told him firmly. She sighed then reached out to take his shoulder and gave him a reassuring smile. "Don't worry, Chat, I'm sure it'll work out. But for now-" she interrupted herself with a yawn, and then smiled at him sheepishly. "For now we all need sleep. You head home, Chat. I'll go downstairs and tell her she can come up." He nodded and headed towards the ladder that lead towards her bed and the still open trap door.

"My lady?" He said, one foot on the stair.

"Yes, Chat?"

"Thank you," And with that he was gone, bounding across the rooftops towards home. The sun was coming up, but there would still be enough time before his alarm went off to dispose of Marinette's well meant tea and for he and Plagg to have a very serious talk. Strangely enough, the thought of catching up on sleep didn't even occur to him. For the first him in a week, he actually felt well rested.

* * *

A/N:Congrats to all my readers who guessed Cat Nip! Poor, Adrien. Plagg, you are a little shit and need to stop (jk, jk, I need you for plot stuff, you do you)

Also, I'd just like to thank everyone for the love and support I've gotten in the comments! It keeps me writing, and really helped lift my mood and I mourned Bowie's passing this week (RIP Starman). Please, precious, lovely readers, keep it up!

I'd like to dedicate this chapter to the Starman, as if it weren't for him, and his portrayal of Jareth in Labyrinth, I never would have started To Serve Her Purpose which got me publishing fanfic at all. Thanks Bowie, I owe you so much


	3. Chapter 3

A/N:

Sorry this took so long guys. Life has been really friggin busy. Most of this was written on public transit because that's the only time I've had to write these days. Also, I couldn't figure out how to end this chapter for the longest time so it took me a while to be able to finish. Writer's block is annoying and I also have other fics that require my love and attention.

Writing is a high maintenance relationship :P

Possible trigger warning for mention of blood?

* * *

Adrien's feet hit the floor of his bedroom and he released his transformation.

"Plagg," he snapped, grabbing the kwami out of the air when he appeared from the ring, "What the hell was that?"

"Fun?" The Kwami offered, looking far too calm and relaxed for the glare Adrien was giving him. "Say, do you have any cheese? You were busy _all_ night and I'm exhausted."

"Plagg! Now is not the time for cheese! We need to talk!"

"Can't talking wait? Don't you have to be responsible and go to school, or some other boring thing like that?" Adrien glanced at the clock and swore. His Kwami was right, he did need to start getting ready. A photo shoot that afternoon meant extra prep in the morning.

"No reason we can't do both." He decided. Keeping a firm grip on his Kwami, he grabbed a change of clothes and stalked into the bathroom. He put Plagg down next to the sink, plugged it and let it start filling with water.

"So, are you going to explain what you were thinking or am I going to have to drag it out of you?" His glare was only interrupted by the removal of his shirt.

"I thought after the week we've had we both needed to relax. What with you waking up screaming from nightmares every ten minutes, neither of us has been getting much sleep..."

"So you drugged me?" Adrien let the deep betrayal he felt colour his voice. For all that Plagg was an annoying, lazy glutton, Adrien really hadn't expected this betrayal from someone he had thought was on his side. Even when he'd given Adrien bad advice, like during the Bubbler incident, it was because he wanted Adrien to be happy. This? This _hurt_. And it wasn't just him Plagg had hurt and betrayed. He's put _Marinette_ at risk. This would have hurt enough without that added guilt, because it wasn't Plagg alone who had attacked her.

"You probably would have drunk it on your own eventually..." Plagg offered, looking a little ashamed.

"Not transformed I wouldn't!" Betrayed yet again, and this time, from somewhere he didn't expect it, he felt all his hurt turn to simmering anger.

"And it has a stronger effect when I'm transformed, doesn't it."

"Yes..." Plagg admitted, and the rage, the betrayal, the shame, it all flooded Adrien's veins. His hand wrapped around the kwami faster than thinking and before Plagg could react, he stuck him in the half full sink making sure the water from the faucet was splashing over him as well.

"HOW COULD YOU DO THAT?!" Adrien screamed, before regaining some control and quieting down. After all, he really didn't want Nathalie checking on him now. "How could you do that? To me? To Marinette? _I could have hurt her!_ She's a civilian, if I had gotten a little too playful-" he cut himself off, images of broken bones, terrible bruises and blood making a horrible slideshow in his mind. "What if I had used Cataclysm? _She could have di-_ AHH!" his grip loosened from the pain of Plagg's sudden bite and the Kwami slid free of his grip.

"Alright kid, let's get a few things straight." Plagg said, glaring at him. "First. No more water. I'll clean myself, thank you very much."

"I won't bathe you if you don't _drug_ me!"

"Half a Camembert as an apology and we've got a deal."

Adrien opened his mouth to protest, but Plagg narrowed his eyes and Adrien stayed silent.

"Second, when I encouraged you to drink that tea, I had no idea how fixated you were on that girl-though she does have nice hair, very chewy. I thought you would roll around in your room some, maybe jump off a few things, normal cat stuff. If you were gonna be fixated on anyone enough to track them down, I'd thought it would be Ladybug, the way you go on and on about her. Since you don't know who she is in her civilian life, I figured it would be fine. If I'd known that you'd do that, I probably wouldn't have told you to transform." Adrien gave him a look at the 'probably'.

"Third, no, you couldn't have used Cataclysm on her. You have to work with me to do that and I have a much higher tolerance for nip than you. Unfortunately. And I wasn't about to let you kill anyone. You'd never let me get my paws on catnip again!

"And fourth, don't you have better things to do than drowning poor, innocent cats? Like, getting ready for the day? I heard your alarm start to go off a while ago."

Eyes wide, Adrien went back into his room to turn off his alarm, and then hurried to get ready for the day. He found himself rushing, looking a little more dishevelled than normal. After all, the sooner he was ready, the sooner he would be at school, the sooner he would see Marinette and be able to confirm with his own two eyes that she was alright.

* * *

He gaped in horror at Alya, his stomach sinking like a stone.

"What do you mean Marinette's not coming to school today?! What happened? What's wrong?"

Alya blinked turning from her conversation with Nino at Adrien's sudden outburst. When Marinette hadn't shown up with Alya he'd been worried. Her frown had only made his heart sink further. It was only natural that when Nino had noticed Alya's concern and frequent phone checking and the lack of the bubbly beautiful raven haired best friend and asked Alya what was up, Adrien had shamelessly eavesdropped on the conversation. He'd planned to just casually listen to why Marinette was running late and then Alya had dropped that bomb and he'd just blurted that out and now half the class was staring at him and…

While he was used to being looked at, this was just embarrassing. He wished he could just disappear. Or that he was Chat Noir. Chat would know how to handle this situation. On the other hand, Chat had got him into this situation in the first place. Either way he really needed someone to take the attention _off_ him, right now-

"What's wrong with Marinette?" Nathaneal asked, right on cue.

"Is she alright?" Rose asked getting out of her seat and coming to sit wear Marinette usually would.

"Statistically, Marinette misses an average of-"

"Look Max, do you wanna know what happened, or not?" Alya said, cutting Max off before he could actually say how often Marinette missed class. Did Marinette miss a lot of school? With all his photoshoots and superheroing, he hadn't noticed. There was no reason he should have noticed. He still felt bad for not noticing.

"So, tell us what's up with the Class Pres!" Nino demanded. More of the class was gathering around, even Sabrina was looking over, though Chloe was studiously looking at her phone. He knew his old friend well enough to tell she was still keeping an ear out. Everyone cared about Marinette. And _it was his fault that this had happened to Marinette in the first place._

"Well, apparently between school and designing she's been staying up really late recently. You know how she's been tired recently," plenty of people nodded. Once more, Adrien tried to not feel guilty that he hadn't noticed. It wasn't like they were that close and he was too exhausted from being Chat Noir to notice anything. Ever. "She's been working on something or other, but last night, she left her trapdoor open to let some fresh air in and then this stray cat got in and totally trashed her room and she was up all night dealing with it."

"Is she ok?!" Asked Mylène, voicing everyone's worries.

"A few scratches," Alya replied.

Adrien flinched. Damn it, Ladybug had told him he hadn't hurt Marinette! He'd never hated himself more than he hated himself in that moment. He'd _hurt_ her, even if it was, 'just a few scratches'.

"Is she getting a rabies shot?" Asked Ivan, sounding really worried. At least that was something he didn't need to worry about.

"She didn't say, but I'm sure her parents would be on that." Alya said, sounding like she was trying to reassure herself. She shook her head and continued. "But apparently, between getting the cat out of her room and dealing with the mess it left, she didn't sleep at all. She actually face planted in her breakfast this morning and her parents sent her back to her room to get some sleep. Hopefully she'll be back tomorrow."

"Now, if you're all done gossiping!" Ms. Mendeleiev snapped, sending everyone scurrying to their seat.

Adrien dutifully took notes all class, but his heart wasn't in it, even if this was physics. He couldn't shake the terrible mental images Alya's story caused. He _had_ hurt her. The disadvantage of being well rested is that he was awake enough to feel all the intricacies and different levels of his guilt. Nino notices his bad mood, but like the best friend Adrien didn't deserve, didn't comment and just tried to distract him throughout the day, passing him stupid notes and rambling on at lunch. It was nice to have someone who understood.

Finally school was over and he was dragged off to a photoshoot. If he'd thought school was bad, the photoshoot was hell. A familiar, slightly soothing hell, but hell none the less. He didn't really have to do anything, just go through the motions, but every second he was stuck at the shoot, he wasn't checking on Marinette. If the lights were out, he'd just look through her window, just see her, make sure she was ok. If she was up, maybe they'd be able to talk, he could apologize. Maybe she'd forgive him, even if he didn't deserv-

"Adrien! We need you to look like you're enjoying this! Smile! PLease!"

"Sorry, Pierre," Adrien replied, snapping back to the present. "I'll do better." He threw on his best smile and started really throwing himself into the photoshoot. Afterall, the faster he was done here, the faster he could go check on his princess.

* * *

A thousand years later, (OK, so I was only two hours, shut up Plagg) Adrien found himself in his room waiting extremely impatiently for Plagg to finish the promised half wheel of cheese so he could transform and go make sure Marinette was alright. And apologize. God did he need to apologize. Even if it wasn't actually his fault, it was responsibility, and he suspected he was going to have nightmares about what would happen if he _had_ used cataclysm...

"Do you think she'll forgive me?" He asked Plagg.

Plagg looked up and frowned before shoving the rest of the cheese down his throat and floating up to Adrien.

"Only one way to find out," he shrugged. "Ready?"

"Claws out," was Adrien's only reply. The familiar feel of the transformation did very little to alleviate the worry that sat heavy in his stomach. It would have to be enough.

With a practiced motion, he lept from his window and started moving across the roofs of Paris.

The trip to Marinette's took longer than it should have. Maybe if he'd gone right after school, he'd still have the courage, but there has been time for dread and worry to set in. Enough that he had to stop on a rooftop to take a few deep breathes and prepare himself. This was worse than facing his father had ever been. At least with his father, he'd rarely done something actually wrong, and he never had much hope. When it came to Marinette, though...

Marinette could be so kind, or be deadly fire. He remembered the first time they'd met. He didn't think he could go back to that. He knew he didn't want to.

On the other hand, she always helped out classmates when they were sad. And she had forgiven him when she learned he was trying to remove the gum. So maybe there was a chance.

Only one way to find out...

With one more, deep, calming breath, he started out again towards Marinette's.

He hadn't even made it off the roof before an annoyingly familiar cry echoed out across the roofs of Paris.

" _I AM THE CAPTAIN!_ " it cried. " _AND YOU TWO BELONG TOGETHER!"_

* * *

A/N:

Has this akuma been done before? Probably! Do I care? Not really!

They are the captain of this ship and it WILL sail, if they have to get some stupid pieces of magic jewellery to make it happen.

I definitely plan to continue this, but it is gonna be a slow updater. Hopefully more often now my schedule is clearing up a little. But either way, I really love this story and enjoy what I have planned so, never fear, no abandonment.

And thanks for all the kudos and comments. I really appreciate them all. I really haven't had time to respond, but I read them and they make me super happy so thank you very very much. I love you all 3


	4. Chapter 4

Chat Noir stood above the scene, getting a feel before swinging into action. There was the Akuma victim, steering wheel in hand (probably were the Akuma was hiding) and dressed in a ridiculously tacky sea captain costume. She was chasing a couple through the park, shooting blue energy beam at them, as they tried to dodge and get cover.

"Why can't you two see you're perfect for each other!" Shrieked the Captain. Ah, so apparently they weren't a couple. "I've spent almost an entire YEAR watching you two pussy-footing around each other, refusing to admit your feelings, no matter how often you tell me about it. I'm tired of it, and I am NOT letting you date that David, Sarah. Not when the only reason you aren't with Kathrine is that you haven't had the balls to confess. I think it's time you told her how you really feel." A shot of energy shot out and caught one of the two women. Chat Noir winced in sympathy, knowing all too well how much that sucked.

The girl—Sarah?— straightened up and looked over to where the other girl was hiding. "Kathrine? Kathrine, I love you," The other girl had her hands over her ears, tears in her eyes, "I've loved you for so long now, since the first day of Lycee. You stopped me from falling down all those stairs, remember? And helped me pick up my books?"

"SHUT UP!" Shouted Kathrine, shaking her head. Chat winced. He knew that Akuma's were by definition an emotional thing, but feelings seemed really high on this one. "This isn't you Sarah. You don't want to be with me. You want to be with Dave, Sarah! We both know that's tru—"

"NO IT ISN'T!" Shouted The Captain, shooting another bolt of energy at Kathrine. It never hit as Ladybug's Yo-yo appeared from nowhere, deflecting it. Chat followed the retreating weapon to see Ladybug standing on a roof across from him, tall and proud and beautiful.

"That's quite enough of that, Akuma!" She called out.

"No, Ladybug, I think you'll find it isn't! Because, these two are my ship and it is a ship that WILL sail!"

"It's a ship you're gonna go down with!" Chat called out, coming out from his cover.

"Oh, excellent! Both of you are here!" Cackled The Captain. "You two are another pair that need to get their heads on straight. Isn't it about time you tell each other how you feel? Can't you two see that you two belong together? Everyone knows he loves you, Ladybug. Don't you think it's about time you told him how you feel too?" She started shooting bolt after bolt at Ladybug as she flipped out of the way.

Her words felt like a punch to Chat Noir's gut. Though he hated when he half agreed with the Akuma, like he had with Bubbler, but he really hated it when they made it personal. This Akuma was going down. Still, until then, it was his job to get civilians out of the area while his partner acted as the distraction. He got out his staff and vaulted down into the park.

"Clear the area!" He called, looking at the random bystanders, but they were already scattering. Carefully, he approached the pair that were the focus of The Akuma.

"Are you two alright?" He asked.

"I think we'll be ok," said Kathrine. "I want to get Sarah out of here though."

"I'm with you, love, wherever you go," smiled Sarah. Kathrine winced.

"She's acting like herself," Kathrine told him, giving Sarah a look over her shoulder. "Just more…. love struck than normal. It's still her underneath it thou—"

"Chaton! Look out!" Ladybug's voice cried out. Chat Noir, spun staff already twirling to block whatever she'd been talking about. The bolt of energy that'd been heading for his back was successfully deflected, but he still felt like it had hit him square on. He'd turned in time to block the attack, yes, but there was nothing that he could do about the second bolt of energy that sunk into his Lady's side. The bolt she hadn't been able to block because she'd been focused on making sure he didn't get hit.

"Oh Chaton," Ladybug crooned. He felt sick to his stomach. He was about to hear everything he'd always wished she'd tell him and it would all be wrong. He'd never wanted to hear it like this. Her yo-yo swung, and she swung down in front of him. He held his hands up to ward her off. Damn it, he was the one who was supposed to get hit by these sort of thing! How would he purify the Akuma without her? He was the expendable one!

"Fight it, my Lady, don't do this, please." Her back to the Captain, she winked at him and mouthed, 'Trust me. Play along."

He blinked in surprise, before smirking back at her. For whatever reason, the Akuma hadn't affected her. He ignored the part that said it was because she didn't love him at all. He had a job to do.

She sauntered towards him, and he swallowed hard. His lady wasn't normally one to saunter and seeing her hips sway in that skin tight suit, even knowing it was an act, did _things_ to him. She came up and wrapped her arms around him, and he returned the gesture, playing her game and holding her very gently as she rested her head on his shoulder.

"Lucky charm!" She breathed, her hands safely hidden behind his back. He felt something form in them. She went onto tip toe to kiss him on the cheek. He knew it was just to get high enough to see what her Lucky Charm was, but he still shuddered lightly. He wasn't used to this kind of affection. Even if it was fake and all an act, it had been a while since he'd had anything like this at all.

"On the count of three, throw me at her," she whispered. His eyes glanced up, noticing that The Captain had floated much closer during Ladybug's performance, hands covering mouth to suppress squeals and eyes dancing happily. She was now in easy throwing range and for all he knew that she was a victim and this wasn't her fault, he would feel quite a bit of personal satisfaction and seeing her go down.

"One," He loosened his grip on her, making it easy for her to jump, "two," he felt her tense against him, ready to do the first part of the jump, "three!" She jumped up and he grabbed her foot, adding his strength to her flip. She went flying through the air.

"No!" cried the Captain as she tried to fly backwards, but it was far too late. The red and black net Ladybug held in her hand had caught the wheel firmly, wrenching it out of The Captain's hand. She swung the net and the wheel came free, shooting out toward him. He called on Cataclysm, and caught it, feeling it disintegrate in his hands with a vicious satisfaction..

"NO!" screamed The Captain as the familiar black cloud enveloped her, and left a confused young woman lying on the ground of the park. None of the women involved in this could have been much older than he was. He went to help her up as Ladybug caught and purified the Akuma.

She came over to him when she was done. "Mission accomplished!" She said, offering her fist. He bumped it, smiling slightly distractedly at her. Pulling her fist back, Labybug frowned at him. "Chaton, are you ok?"

"Fine," He brushed her off. He wasn't up to processing the emotions this particular Akuma had brought up. "It's just I still need to go apologize to Marinette." Ladybug's eyes widened. "I'm sorry I can't stay, my Lady."

"Make sure to knock before entering!" She blurted. Chat's eyebrows shot up behind his mask. "She might still be asleep, we both know she had a really long night last night, and she told me she didn't even go to school to day so that she could catch up on sleep. I doubt she wants to wake up with a strange man in her room."

"Alright," he smiled at her. She and Marinette must be closer than he'd thought, if she was texting her to about school. Did Marinette know who Ladybug was? Then again, after last night, maybe Ladybug was just keeping a close eye on her.

"I've got to go. Good luck!" She gave him a small affectionate shove. "And don't forget to recharge before going to see her. Last thing you want is detransform half way through." And like that, she was gone, swinging away back to whatever life she had behind the mask. The life that apparently involved keeping tabs on Marinette He was glad his Lady had reminded him to recharge. The last thing he needed was needing to run out halfway through his apology. Marinette deserved better than that, especially after what he'd done to her. What _he'd_ done to her. He ran across the roofs of Paris, bunkering down out of sight behind some chimney's when he got close to her house.

He released his transformation and handed Plagg some of his emergency cheese without a word. One look at his chosen's expression stopped any smart comments. The cheese disappeared in record time and with a quick nod, he was back in costume. Less than a minute later, he was posed above the trapdoor, fist raised and ready to knock. He could do it. All he had to do was move his fist a little. He'd done the motion plenty of times in his life. He sucked down one last deep breath and knocked.

The next few seconds were the longest he'd ever experienced. He forced himself to count his breaths and keep them deep and even.

One. What if she was asleep?

Two. What is he woke her up from some badly needed rest.

Three. What if she woul—

The trapdoor swung open. Marinette knelt on her bed, looking up at him.

"Helll Chaton." There was a soft smile on her lips, and a concerned tilt to her brow. He felt the bands of steel that had been tight around his chest all day loosen. Maybe this wouldn't be as bad as he feared.

"Hello Princesse."

* * *

A/N: So, I haven't actually abandoned this. I just want to say I really appreciate all the reviews and favourites. It means a lot to me that people are still checking this out after over a year since the last update.

This year has been really really rough, including starting university with dyslexia and no accommodations (but now I have some! Yay!), loss in the family, and more. So, thank you everyone for your patience, and for continuing to take joy in this work! I hope you all won't have to wait another year for the next one! :P


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